Volunteer's Toy Drive Helps Teens Feel Like Kids Again

This time of year, when the weather chills and winter winds whip, people still tend to feel a warmth unique to the holiday season. It may be the presence of family and friends, or the ubiquitous focus on giving. Whatever the reason, the Christmas season tends to elicit good from people.

This year Margaret McElhaney, a Gaithersburg resident, has verified this yuletide belief by helping to ensure a warmer and happier Christmas for many area teenagers.

Earlier this month, a flyer in the home of a coworker caught McElhaney's eye. The notice advertised a local toy collection aimed to augment the area's Toys for Tots campaign, which is organized each year by the United States Marine Corps. The drive specifically sought gifts for teenagers.

"It really affected me," she said. "Teenagers are left out every single year because, when people give, they give to smaller children. Teenagers need to know that people really care about them, too, and that they're still kids."

Two Quince Orchard High School freshmen, Scott Mongold and Lizzy Parker, organized the campaign. The children distributed flyers to neighbors and contacted other friends, and received a number of positive responses. But one reply, that of Margaret McElhaney, stood out.

"She called up my son, and she wanted to help out," Margot Mongold, Scott's mother, said. "She just said a bunch of kind words. She was moved by the flyer and she wanted to do something."

"I thought, 'OK, what can I do to help?'" McElhaney said. "'I can't go door to door.'"

Instead, she visited Gaithersburg retailers, looking to find a store that would volunteer to match her efforts by donating a gift for each gift McElhaney purchased. After visiting a couple of different stores, she found enthusiastic employees at Five Below, a wide-ranging value store in the Kentlands shopping center aimed at the teen and pre-teen market.

But, while the store employees liked McElhaney's idea, they didn't have authority to approve her request. They suggested that she call the store's corporate offices to seek consent. McElhaney did so and, the next day, received a $100 gift certificate to support her efforts.

"They were so enthusiastic about wanting to help," McElhaney said. "I cannot tell you enough; they've given a lot more than others would."

McElhaney brought the certificate, and Scott Mongold and Lizzy Parker, to Five Below to pick out gifts, and saw further evidence of the store's support.

"They had made a donation box for shoppers to contribute to," McElhaney said. "And it was almost full!"

The gifts McElhaney bought, and those from Five Below's collection, will make up a significant portion of the total contributions garnered by Mongold and Parker. The gifts will be delivered to Sgt. William Wolbert, who is the head of the Marine Corps' Toys for Tots campaign in Montgomery and Frederick counties. The donations will be especially appreciated in a year when, as the Frederick News-Post reported last week, contributions in the area are lower than usual.

"The contributions as a result of [Mrs. Mongold and Ms. McElhaney's] actions have definitely made a significant impact," said Wolbert said.

What's most important to McElhaney, who has three grandchildren (two are teenagers), is that local teens feel like kids this holiday season.

"It's gotten to the point that teenagers are considered adults," McElhaney said.

"Let them preserve their youth. Once you've grown up, you've got responsibilities and you've got them the rest of your life. So when you're a kid, be one. Expect help when you need it. Be silly; have fun."